


Golden Touch

by Shinju_Tori_Archives (Shinju_Tori)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gen, Kinda X-Men AU, M/M, Mutants, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-10 11:09:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinju_Tori/pseuds/Shinju_Tori_Archives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>“Those gloves he wears, they aren’t a fashion statement. He’s got some <strong>King Midas</strong> shit going on, one touch...you turn to gold.” </em><br/>- Extraordinary by glackedandmullered</p><p>Moments following a mutant Joel as he grows up, falls in love, and distances himself to protect the one boy who means the world to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I know a boy with the golden touch

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I know I have other stories that I need to work on but this plot bunny wanted to stay in my head. 
> 
> This is kinda an AU of an AU, which is weird but YOLO right?
> 
> Title and chapter names come from (a mildly modified version of) the song Golden Touch by Razorlight
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoy! 
> 
> ALLONSY! :D

It started when Joel was 13 years old.

Back then, his touch couldn't kill, it would just make whatever he had touched look golden for a few hours before the effect wore off. He was almost constantly surrounded by girls, who wanted him to give them real gold highlights so they could pretend to be princesses or rockstars, and boys, who asked him to turn their teeth into gold so they could pretend to be gangsters.

( _He never liked the attention, the greedy looks on adults' faces when they saw him using his powers._ )

When he was 16, anything he touched now stayed gold for days on end.

The longest time had been a month and that was a guy who annoyed him to the point where Joel pinned him down, grabbed the guys tongue, and turned it into gold so he was mute. Nobody messed with him or bothered him after that and Joel found it both very liberating and very saddening.

( _During that time, he found that things that had never been alive like stone or metal were harder to change to gold than things that had once been living like feathers or plants._ )

When he was 19 and away at college, he accidently killed his first and only boyfriend, Mark.

He had hid his powers for years after the tongue incidence in High School and then Mark had found out when Joel was making him a golden rose. Joel had warned Mark that his turning things into gold was only getting worse as he got older. Mark didn't believe him and insisted on touching Joel whenever he could to prove that the effects weren't that lasting.

( _Joel always noticed that Mark wouldn't touch him for more than a few seconds at a time so that his powers wouldn't have enough time to affect him_ )

One day though, they were wrestling, and while Joel was trying to get Mark to stop touching him, Mark was trying to touch more of him. Eventually Joel was pinned by Mark who smirked before kissing him. Joel panicked and tried shoving him away but Mark just pushed into the kiss more before freezing. Joel couldn't stop crying as the hands around his wrists chilled and the warm lips and tongue that touched his own, hardened.

They found Joel 5 hours later, with a golden statue pinning him to the floor of his dormroom. Even though it was by accident, he was tried and sentenced to 30 years in prison in solitary confinement.

When he was 29, Michael "Burnie" Burns and Matt Hullum visited him in prison and flipped his life upside down...


	2. He's got enough, He's got too much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joel is given a particularly interesting and yet alarming offer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay starting here I'm gonna do a Joel First-Person POV kay?
> 
> In later chapters I may switch POVs from Joel to someone else to add to the story but for the most part this is gonna be all about Joel. :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy! ALLONSY~!
> 
> EDIT: I found the Superpower Wiki and found exactly what Burnie's powers count as and came up with a high level Empath. THis means he senses emotions to the point where he can kind of talk via emotions? It's complicated.

When I first met Burnie and Matt, I was sitting crosslegged on my bed, my back to the door, tracing little gold patterns onto the wall with my fingertips when I heard voices approaching my cell. I had paused mid-stroke, a spot of gold slowly spreading out from my finger like ink as I listened intently to the three voices that grew louder as they came closer.

"Remind me again what the government wants with Heyman?" That was the Warden, his tone curious and wary. My heart skipped a beat at the mention of my last name and "government" in the same sentence.

"We don't need to tell you." A thick southern voice growled. I stiffened, the gold spreading away from my fingertip faster as my heartrate shot up. That sounded like a military officer from the short, blunt way he spoke.

"All you need to know is that if he agrees to come with us, you'll have one less prisoner to look after." A different, lighter said reassuringly. I felt a little calmer hearing his voice. A police officer, maybe a Fed, here to make a deal that would get me out of here?

_But I can't leave. If I do..._ Mark's face swam into my vison briefly before fading away as I hunched over trying to make myself smaller as the Warden slowly said "...Fine I guess. I'll have you know though that Heyman's the first guy I've encountered who prefers solitary..."

With that the heavy steel door to my cell opened and the sounds of two people walking in echoed through the empty room. I waited anxiously as the door closed behind them before resuming tracing on the walls with my fingers, wincing at the large gold stain on the wall where my finger had stopped. That would be a bitch to scrape off later.

As if they had read my mind the lighter of the two voices asked ""What do you do once the wall is pure gold?"

"It's just gilded. Flakes right off." I muttered.

"Well that's got to be convienient." A different voice spoke, not the Southern voice, nor the light one that asked me about the gold on the walls.

I stopped drawing, my hands resting against my calves as I chanced a glance over my shoulder and was surprised at the two people standing there.

The one was rounder, dressed in a plain black suit and had an easy-going smile, short curly hair, thick framed glasses, and a salt-and-pepper beard. The other was thinner clad in boots, jeans, and a plaid button-up over a white t-shirt, and had a nervous smile, short reddish hair, and stubble.

"...Who are you. Why are you here." I shortly stated, turning back to the wall but didn't continue drawing.

"I'm Michael Burns, but you can call me Burnie. This is my friend Matt Hullum." The first voice said. It continued " ** _And we want to talk to you about something very important Joel Heyman..._** "

I almost got whiplash turning back around to stare wide-eyed at the two guys. That had been directly in my head. Not just through my ears. It was almost like listening to music, the words just appearing in my mind.

"D-Did you just...?" I stuttered. The one with glasses smiled as the voice calmly said into my head " _ **Speak to you telepathically? Yeah that's a little trick I can do. It's part of being an Empath so please calm down, you're projecting pretty loudly.**_ " When he told me to calm down, I relaxed somewhat, something inside me feeling safe around these two.

"Y-You're a telepath...What about him? Is he...normal?" I glanced at his friend who smirked at me.

There was a rippling, almost like scales as the guy suddenly changed so that he looked like me. "Nope. I'm a mimic. Only mimic the form though. No powers otherwise." He spoke in my voice and it clicked instantly.

"You changed into a military officer. That's why they let you in." I stated. They glanced at each other, the mimic guy changing back into himself, and the guy with glasses shrugged at his buddy, "Told you he was damn intelligent Matt." Matt rolled his eyes and pointed out "Not that hard of a guess to make Burnie."

Burnie casually flipped him off before addressing me "Listen Joel, we're here because we have an idea and we need your help to make it a reality." I frowned as he continued "We figure that we aren't the only mutants in the world you know? I mean there are reports all over the world! And from what we've seen most of us get our powers at a really young age, anywhere from birth to 13 years old or so, so we thought we'd make a...school, a safe-haven for mutant kids."

Matt added "We'd take in any mutant kid that came our way. Runaways, kids striving to be normal, kids with no where else to go. We'd teach them, not just normal school things, but also how to control their abilities, how to defend themselves..." Burnie cut in, softly saying, "What we aren't good at though is teaching kids how to hide their powers. How to restrain themselves so they seem...Normal."

Memories of hiding my ability from random strangers, of vanishing into the mundane after High School came to mind.

"...Let me see if I got this straight: You guys want me, a convicted murderer," I flinched as the words bitterly left my own mouth, "to teach a bunch of children how to hide the fact that they're abnormal from the world? Easier said than done."

Burnie exclaimed "But it can be done! Yes it would take time, but I know you have plenty of it! Yes it would take money but we already got financial backing from the government and from one of our potential teachers!" He looked at me pleadingly and asked "If you had an opportunity as a kid to be someplace where you belonged, somewhere where you didn't have to be scared of people for either just being a mutant or just scared of them using you for your ability, would you have gone?"

I glanced away and bit my lip. Half of me screamed this was a bad idea. The other half whispered that maybe I could belong there, and that maybe, just maybe, there was a slim chance that I could meet a mutant who could touch me, kiss me, and not get hurt.

I sighed and stood up, looking down at them slightly since they were a couple inches shorter than me, and slowly said "I'll come with you. But if I...kill another person, even by accident, I want you to kill me." Burnie looked alarmed as Matt nodded solemnly, "Deal." Matt replied. Burnie looked lost for a few seconds before softly agreeing in my mind " _ **Fine.**_ "

I felt myself smile for the first time in years. Things were finally looking up... 


	3. But I know, you wouldn't mind, You could have it all if you wanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joel meets mutants other than Burnie and Matt for the first time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original RvB gang as the school Founders? Can I hear a fuck yes? ;3

A week after they first showed up, Burnie and Matt returned and before I knew it, I was standing outside the prison gates, dressed in second-hand boots, slightly too small jeans, a worn plain grey t-shirt and a thin blue cotton button up, with one on either side of me as I stared up at the sky for the first time in 10 years, my hands awkwardly squished into my pockets. They didn't say anything as I slowly inhaled the familar scent of Austin. I smiled sadly to myself and glanced to either side at them "So where are we going now?"

Matt started walking off towards a plain dark red truck as Burnie replied, gesturing for me to follow him as he followed close behind Matt, "We'll go to Rooster Teeth Academy first, let you pick your room and shit, then we'll head out to the mall, get you some clothes and stuff." I stared wide-eyed at him, frightened by the thought of so many people, so many potential deaths, surrounding me, "A m-mall? S-Seriously? You want me to go to a mall?!"

Matt soothingly said, as he tossed the truck keys to Burnie, "You can just tell us your size and any preferred brands. You don't have to come with us." I relaxed slightly at that as Burnie unlocked the truck and Matt tipped the passenger seat forwards so that I could gingerly climb in the back.

As I settled in, gingerly moving to keep my hands from touching anything for too long, Matt leaned around the front seat to offer me a pair of thin, black fake leather gloves. "Sorry if they're a bit small or too big. I wasn't sure about your glove size..." Matt apologized. I shook my head, gingerly taking the gloves from him and slipping them on, "It's okay..." I slowly flexed my fingers, the material felt a little tight over the backs of my hands and loose around my fingers "They're fine for now." I gave Matt an awkward smile that he returned as Burnie started up the engine, causing both of us to hurry and buckle up.

The entire trip long, Burnie and Matt mock-argued with each other about everything and nothing at all. It was kinda pleasant to listen to, in a soothing, white noise, kind of way.  I couldn't help noting familiar landmarks around us, places where I had been, noting the lack of landmarks in spots where things had been shut or torn down, as we drove steadily through Austin towards the outskirts of town. I was really thankful for the back windows of the truck being tinted, because I must have looked exceedingly creepy, peering out to stare at everyone. 

Eventually, 9 or 10 minutes away from the edge of Austin, we pulled off the road and up to a massive set of iron gates, one with the image of a rooster on it the other had the image of a set of wind-up teeth. Beyond them was an impressive looking brick building, practically a mansion. Burnie rolled down his window and reached out to push the button below a speaker. There was a faint buzzing noise before an irritated voice came over the line "Who the hell is this? I'm busy working right-! GEOFF! I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU TOUCH THAT I WILL KILL YOU!"

Matt smothered his laughter in his fist and I tried to supress a grin as Burnie mouthed " _Fucking Idiots_ " at us before saying to the speaker, "Hey Gus! It's Burnie! I got the new guy!" There was a groan and the guy on the other end, Gus, said "Need confirmation that it's you and not Matt fucking with me." Burnie grinned and said, loudly, into the speaker, "Geoff wants everyone to know that he sucks and that he's a girl that likes ribbons in his hair and wants to kiss all the boys!"

There was a distant shout over the line of "Fuck you Burnie!" as Gus laughed "Okay! You can come in!" With that the gate creaked open and Burnie drove us up to the main building. There were a trio of people waiting on the front steps, two guys and a woman. "Sup Burnie!" One of the guys called out as the truck stopped "Hey Jason!" Burnie hugged the guy, as Matt got out of the car, tilting the seat forwards so I could get out.

Once I was out I paused to get a good look at Burnie's friends. The one he called "Jason" was Hispanic with an easy-going grin, and a bit of a mustache. The woman was a strong looking blonde with a knowing smirk as she nodded at me. Behind her was a pleasant looking scruffy guy with dark brown hair that waved at me before saying "You know you can relax here right Matt?"

I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eyes and when I turned towards Matt I almost jumped out of my skin. It looked as though he was wearing a dark red scaled, full body suit and copper colored contacts, though his hair was still a familiar reddish brown color. He shrugged at the guy and said "Joel didn't see me like this when we first met." I quickly moved my hand up and down, gesturing from his head to his feet, "So...So this is...This is what you really look like?" Matt nodded and there was a ripple before he was back to how he looked before.

"Joel come here!" Burnie waved me over to where he was standing with Jason and the woman. After I came over to where he was he gestured first to Jason then to the woman, "Joel, this is Jason Saldaña and Kathleen Zuelch. Jason can teleport anywhere as long as he has a picture of it in his head, and Kathleen can turn invisible." He pointed at the guy chatting with Matt "That's Dan Godwin. He can talk to animals." The guys paused and waved at me cheerfully before continuing to talk with Matt.

Burnie tapped me on the shoulder, distracting me from watching them, and jerked a thumb towards the building "There's still two asshats to meet. Follow me." After giving a brief farewell to the others ( _and a reminder to Jason that he'd need to help Burnie bring the first few students to the school until they built a reliable way of transport_ ) we walked inside the building. Inside was like a stereotypical boarding school with wood paneled walls and floors. "So what do you think of Rooster Teeth Academy so far?" Burnie asked as he guided me through the halls.

I shrugged, looking around fascinated, "It's okay I guess...Why call it Rooster Teeth by the way?" Burnie chuckled "It's an old joke between me, Gus, Geoff and Jason. We originally wanted to be Cock Bite University, but Gus pointed out that no sane person in their right mind would send their kid to a place with a name like that."

I laughed myself as he stopped outside a door that had a plaque on it that read " **Gus' Workshop: KEEP ~~THE FUCK~~ OUT** " and knocked on the door. It was cracked open by a thin pale guy, a few years younger than me ( _all of them were so young compared to me though and it hurt to think about that_ ) with dark hair, stubble, sleepy blue eyes, and ears that stuck out slightly from his head. "Heeeello, you've reached Gus Sorola's personal assistant may I take a message?" The guy drawled with a crooked grin. A voice from in the room shouted "If that's Burnie and the new guy let them in you asshat!" The guy made "blah blah" gestures with his hand, rolling his eyes, before opening the door all the way so we could walk in.

I stared around us in amazement. Almost everywhere I looked was covered with electronics, some completed, some only halfway finished. In the middle of the mess, hands outstretched over what looked like a very slim computer assembling it's self was a Hispanic ( _or Asian it was really hard to tell_ ) guy wearing glasses with a grumpy look on his face. He glanced at us and said "You're Joel right?" Not waiting for a response he continued "I'm Gustavo, but you can just call me Gus, and I am a Technopath." The skinny guy who let us in snorted and sneered at Gus, "That's just a fancy way of saying he controls electronics." Gus flipped the guy off with one hand, the computer's assembly slowing slightly as he did so until he replaced his other hand.

The guy then offered me a hand and grinned "Geoffrey Ramsey, spelled with a G. Call me Geoff if you don't mind." I took his hand, careful not to let my glove slip and slowly shook his hand. It felt strange, both thrilling and terrifying, to shake someone hand without them turning to gold. He grinned and added "I can fly and shoot beams from my hands."

I glanced down at his hand in mine and let go, alarmed as his hand heated up in mine. He laughed and waved his hand around as a bit of smoke wafted away from it. I flinched when he moved to pat my shoulder. "...You do something that involves touching people don't you." Geoff stated solemnly staring at me. I hesitated as Gus said "Of course he does! Didn't you pay attention when Burnie was going through the files of registered mutants to figure out who'd be best at helping us out?" Geoff scoffed, rolling his eyes and childishly sticking his tongue out at Gus.

" _ **Why don't you surprise him?**_ " Burnie asked me, picking an apple up from an untouched lunch tray, pecariously perched on the edge of a dresser. I got what he meant and subtlely slipped off one of my gloves as Burnie called out loud, "Hey, Joel! Catch!" and tossed the apple to me. I caught it and had enough time to register that it was one of the green tart Granny Smith apples that always made my mouth pucker, before gold spread away from my fingertips across the surface of the apple. Geoff let out a yelp jumping away from me, staring wide-eyed at the now gold apple in my hands.

"...It's still edible if you want it..." I offered it to him carefully "It's just covered gold leaf is all." Geoff glanced from the apple to me and gingerly took it from me, careful not to let his hand touch mine. He scraped away at the surface and sure enough, underneath was the familar green skin of a Granny Smith.

"...Are all things you touch covered in gold leaf?" Geoff asked, curiously examining the apple before taking a bite out of it, his look of surprise making Burnie laugh. I shook my head, pulling my glove back on, "Only dead and inanimate things. Live things or things that were alive recently, like flowers, they change solid fast. Metal, wood, glass, food, clothes, those things take time for me to turn completely solid." Gus lowered his hands from the now finished computer and asked "What about liquids?" I shrugged my head "I dunno why but I can't turn liquids into gold. Anything coated with fluids of any kind are harder to change than others as a result, like cups covered in condensation."

"Hmmm...Not a bad excuse for shower sex..." Geoff mused out loud as I blushed. I had never considered that before... _But what if it didn't work?_ Burnie, hearing that thought I guess, rolled his eyes, and smacked him upside the head and judging from Geoff's apologetic expression, chastized him mentally.

Burnie turned away from him saying, "Gus? I'm going to grab Jason and go check out that Pattillo kid that's been in my head recently. I'll be back in a few hours." Gus waved as Geoff grumbled, giving Burnie a mocking salute. I startled as he paused next to me and patted my shoulder, "Go through all the floors at your leisure Joel. Figure out which classroom and which bedroom you like so we can start furnishing them. I'll get Matt and Dan to pick up some clothes for you, okay?" I nodded and Burnie winked before calling out "Play nice kids~!"

As soon as Burnie left, Gus wiped his hands on a piece of cloth before saying "There are some open bedrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Maybe one or two on the 4th if I'm remembering correctly..." I nodded "Thanks Gus. I'll just be going-..." Geoff interuppted me, carefully putting an arm around my shoulders, "We should all go eat. It's past noon and I'm starving."

Both me and Gus started to protest when he spoke over us "No buts! You," he pointed at Gus, "Have been working on advanced computer and security systems for this dump as well as your commissioned work for the last 3 days without pause for any proper meals! And you," he pointed at me, "have been stuck in jail for what? 10 years? You need some proper food in you ASAP!" He crossed his arms and glowered at us "So we are having lunch together and that's final!"

Me and Gus exchanged equal looks of fear and irritation as Geoff dragged us both out of Gus' room. "D-does he ummm....?" I stuttered and Gus sighed and grumbled "Do this a lot? Yes. Get used to it."

Well...This wasn't what I expected...

But feeling Geoff's hand around my upper arm though my clothes and hearing Gus muttering insults at Geoff, I smirked and figured I could live with it...


	4. You could have it all if it mattered so much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slowly the first class of RTA fills in...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now taking into account that during this chapter Joel is 29, that makes the others (including the new students) the following ages:  
> Burnie is 27  
> Matt is 25  
> Jason is 20  
> Kathleen is --  
> Dan (Godwin) is 21  
> Geoff is 22  
> Gus is 21  
> Jack is 18  
> Ryan is 20  
> Monty is 18  
> Gavin is 11  
> Dan (Gruchy) is 11  
> Adam (Ellis) is 9 (poor baby!)  
> NOTE: If I couldn't find the person's age, I left it blank. As I find them out I may add them on.
> 
> ......Shit...I just realized how freaking YOUNG Adam Ellis is compared to most of the RT staff...Goddamn...

Lunch, as it turned out, consisted of Geoff driving us in a beat-up dark orange 'Stang out to get drive-through McDonalds ( _Which despite being greasy as shit tasted like heaven on earth to me_ ) and then the three of us just hanging out on a hillside outside of town until sunset. comparing how hard it was to hide our various abilities and Geoff showing his powers off to me and Gus ( _It was actually pretty cool to watch him float around above our heads and see the orangish light glowing around his hands_ ).

When we got back, I claimed a room on the 4th floor that had a tiny balcony and easy access to the roof. The next morning, Matt had delivered a bunch of clothes, mostly baggy hoodies, T-shirts, loose pants and different types of gloves that actually fit, to my room. I spent the next few weeks alternately wandering the halls ( _usually getting dragged into something idiotic by either Jason or Geoff or both of them_ ) and researching things online on computers that Gus gave me to test for him, while we ranted about the others' stupidity and about life in general.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

About a month after I was released from jail, sometime in the late afternoon, Burnie called to everyone " _ **First students are here. Everyone gather in the courtyard for a Meet 'n Greet.**_ " I jumped at the sudden intrusion as Gus cursed, angrily setting aside the custom laptop ( _so I could keep track of stocks easier_ ) that he was making for me, "This better be fuckin' worth it..." He grumbled as we left his room and headed to the foyer.

Everyone else was there already waiting for me and Gus including the new guys. Burnie grinned and gestured to the line of 6 people between him and Jason, "Everyone, these are, in order, Jack Pattillo, Ryan Haywood, Monty Oum, Gavin Free, Daniel Gruchy, and Adam Ellis. Guys, these are everyone who works here at RTA." As Burnie launched himself into introducing everyone in detail to the new arrivals, I took a few moments to look them over, most of which looked younger than Gus was.

Strike that, all of them looked so young it was hell to watch them shuffle about nervously. _How many of them had been kicked out of their homes for their powers by cruel parents who didn't want a mutant under their roof? How many had been suffocated like you had, people both loving them and loathing them for their powers? How many had just been ignored, and treated like furniture, by their own families?_ A little voice whispered cruelly in my head. I shook it off and concentated on the kids more to try and get my mind away from those dark thoughts.

The farthest from me was a guy with square glasses, a bashful smile partially hidden by the short scruffy beginnings of a beard, and short ginger hair. I noticed instantly how he was reluctant to touch people though his reactions were slightly different than my own and made a mental note to myself that he had a touch related power too. At his feet was a good sized army dufflebag, though it looked a little flat.

The next guy had intense blue eyes that bored into everyone else's, slightly wavy sandy hair and a fairly impassive expression. There was a faint echo of Burnie's telepathy thing as he stared at me and he looked sad briefly before moving his gaze onto the others. I made a big mental note that I may not have to teach that kid anything and just leave him to Burnie. At his feet were a number of suitcases of varying sizes and colors.

After that was an Asian teen who had bleached white hair that had black roots where his hair was growing out and looked ready to fall asleep on his feet. His clothes were fairly ragged and he looked like he had been sleeping in an alleyway for a week or so, judging from the grime streaked across his face. A mental note was made to make sure that this kid was treated gently. He only had a large worn black canvas backpack, slung over one shoulder.

The next two were obviously very close to each other as they stood side-by-side, practically touching shoulders. The older looking one had short blackish hair and intense brown eyes that screamed that if you hurt his companion there would be Hell to pay. The younger one had messy long blonde hair, a wide grin, and mischevious blue-green eyes. Instantly a mental note was made in big bold letters to not seperate these two and if to ask them about the other one's abilities. Each one held a suitcase in one hand and had a bag on their back.

The final kid, standing only a few feet from me, almost made my heart stop. He was a very skinny lad, only maybe 9 or 10 years old, with brown hair and eyes and a single bulging Batman backpack at his feet. What drew my eyes to him though was that covering midway up his skinny forearms, were a pair of floppy blueish-purple rubber gloves like what doctors wear for surgery. I recoginized the sad look in his eyes as he longingly watched the others shake hands without gloves. I knew it because I used to get it on my own face before I resigned myself to never touching anyone.

Ignoring everyone else, I went up to him and crouched in front of him, lowering myself to roughly his height. "Hello. What's your name? Mine's Joel." I quietly asked him with a tiny smile. He looked at me surprised before quietly answering "I-I'm Adam. I-It's nice to meet you Mr. Joel." I nodded at him before saying "You have to wear gloves too huh?" He nodded but didn't say anything more, he just looked at me with an intensely hopeful expression.

I stood up as Burnie came up behind me, putting a hand gently on my shoulder even though it made me flinch slightly, "And last, but not least, this is Joel Heyman. For those of you who have...difficulties controlling your powers, Joel will be teaching you how to control and hide them so you don't have to be scared anymore." He smiled at the sandy haired boy and reassured him to some wordless question, "Don't worry Ryan, I'll personally tutor you on how to block out people's thoughts." The sandy haired boy, Ryan, looked relieved at him.

Burnie grinned, tilting his head towards the main building "Let's get you all inside and pick out your rooms so you all can wash up before dinner." The kids nodded, picking up their bags, and we all started towards the building. As the kids in the front quietly talked amongst themselves, I heard Burnie say " _ **Joel? You okay with Adam having a room next door to you?**_ " I glanced at him and gave him a tiny nod.

Burnie grinned " _ **Thanks buddy!**_ " He patted me on the shoulder and said out loud, "Okay everyone gets a partner! Jack, you're stuck with Geoff." Geoff grinned and nudged the ginger who barely moved to the side as he nodded.

"Ryan, you're with me." Ryan nodded gratefully, smiling slightly at Burnie.

"Monty, you and Big Dan are together." The Asian teen nodded sleepily as Dan put a hand on his shoulder with a broad smile.

"Gavin and Little Dan; you guys stick close to Matt and Gus." the two little boys who seemed really close cheered and high-fived excitedly while Gus groaned and Matt murmured something into his ear while he patted him on the back sympathetically.

"And Adam? You're paired up with Joel okay?" Adam nodded and shuffled closer to me but didn't make any moves to grab or touch me to my mixed relief and worry.

Jason teasingly said "What about me and Kat, Burns?" Burnie pointed at him and said mock sternly, "You young mister, you are gonna go straight to sleep cuz you just teleported 6 people plus me here. Kat, make sure he stays there by any means necessary." Kat gave him a mock salute before grabbing Jason's arm and pulling him away as he whined, yawning, that he wasn't tired at all.

Burnie clapped grinning around at everyone, "Alright! You got your partners! Now go explore! We'll meet in let's say....2 hours to eat dinner in the mess, okay?" After everyone nodded in acknowledgement, he waved at everyone and left with Ryan following him towards Burnie's rooms while everyone else scattering throughout the building. As the echoes of their talking died out, I looked down at Adam who looked timidly back up at me. "W-Well then...Want to visit my room first?" I asked. Adam nodded and gingerly grabbed the hem of my hoodie, his grip on his backpack tightening softly saying "Yes Mr. Joel."

As we walked upstairs, I told him "You don't have to call me Mister, Adam. Makes me feel much older than I already am!" Adam giggled at that as I smiled at him. We walked in a pleasant silence until we got to the 4th floor and I led him to my room.

"Here we go: Casa de Heyman!" I proclaimed, opening the door. Adam cautiously walked in looking around at my pristine room. He surprised me by softly saying "Your room looks really neat and clean and stuff..." I shrugged and mumbled "H-Has to with my power..."

Adam looked up at me sadly and asked "Do you make people really sick when you touch them too?" I blinked at him and sat on the edge of my bed, gesturing for him to sit next to me "What do you mean by that?" He dropped his bag next to the bed, sat next to me crosslegged and stared at his gloved hands, murmuring, "I pushed this boy at school during recess cuz he was bullying one of my friends and the other kid fell over and started...twitching on the ground. Everyone started screaming really loudly at me and they...sent me home from school early. Momma and Daddy shut me in my room and didn't let me out or feed me for a long, long time..."

I imagined that after a kid started having a seizure from Adam touching him, the adults roughly grabbed Adam by his shirt, by his pants, his hair, anywhere where they didn't have to touch skin, and dragged him into a parking lot to a car and then threw him in, into the backseat, perhaps even into the trunk where he couldn't touch anyone. I could imagine the harsh feeling of someone dragging Adam from the car into his house, possibly up a set of stairs, to his bedroom, of him being thrown roughly onto or against his bed and then having the door slammed shut and locked behind them, the fucking bastards. I could just see poor tiny Adam curled up with his back to the door, crying himself to sleep, begging his parents to let him out, that he'd be good and never touch anyone again, as the sun set and rose outside his window several times. I grit my teeth in an effort to refrain from cursing the adults who treated him so harshly out loud.

( _No pretending around him that they weren't scared of his powers. They made it glaringly clear that his powers, and therefore he, was unwanted. Unlike some people that you knew, Joel._ )

Adam continued, wrapping his arms around himself, sounding a bit happier now, "Then Mr. Burnie showed up at my house with his friend Mr. Jason and they saved me! There was a big argument with my parents but Mr. Burnie told them something that made them open the door so he could come in and see me. He looked really sad when he saw me and I was really scared of hurting him at first like I did that bully. But then Mr. Burnie told me that he wasn't gonna fall over and shake like that bully did if I touched him, so I touched his hands when he offered them to me to help me up! B-But then he looked like he was gonna blow chunks when I did and my head got really noisy and I knew that Mr. Burnie was worried about me and how my parents were treating me so I stopped right away!"

I blinked and said, leaning in slightly, "W-Wait...You said that your head got...noisy?" He nodded and gestured towards his head with one hand, the other staying tight around his waist as he said "I could suddenly hear Momma crying how they had a demon in their home, and Daddy was shouting really loudly that they needed to g-get rid o-of me..." Adam sniffled, shivering as he whispered, hugging himself tight, "I-I saw things w-with their words t-too. T-That I-I was the d-demon..." He breathed unsteadily as tears slowly coursed down his cheeks, "D-Daddy w-wanted t-t-to k-k-kill **me**."

I froze in horror for a second before carefully pulling the now sobbing boy into my lap, "Shhh...It's okay Adam...No one's gonna kill you here..." I whispered as he clung to me, crying. I'm not sure how long we sat there, with me gently rubbing circles onto his shivering back, until his sobs eventually died down into shaky breaths and the occasional hiccup. When I was sure he was done crying, I softly asked, "Feel a bit better now?" He sniffled and hiccupped, "K-Kinda..."

I awkwardly rocked him slightly for a minute or so before pulling one of my gloves off with my teeth. I let the glove drop to the ground as I stood up, walking over to a vase of sunflowers on a small desk next to the window that Kathleen had put in my room saying they would liven up the room a bit, "Do you want see what I can do?" I asked. Adam clung to me nodding as I shifted him onto my hip before gently picking up one of the flowers.

He gasped as gold swiftly spread down the stem and up across the petals of the flower. "What is that?" he whispered. "Gold. Everything I touch turns to gold." I replied. He quietly asked "C-Can I try?" After I slowly nodded, he carefully pulled off his gloves and wrapped one tiny hand around mine and grabbed another sunflower from the vase with the other.

I gasped feeling a little light-headed as gold spread from his hand though it didn't move as fast as it did with me. I gingerly set down the sunflower in my hand on the desk and clasped his hand, lacing our fingers together. I felt faintly nauseated immediately afterwards, but the gold moved faster over his flower once I did that.

"You do this...to everything?" Adam quietly asked, staring at the flower in awe. I nodded slightly, "Y-Yea..." He looked up at me and gasped wriggling his fingers out of mine.  The urge to throw up faded along with the light-headed sensation and he looked at me anxiously "I-I'm sorry! I won't do that ever again! I promise I-!"

I gently rested a finger lightly on his mouth, noting the light-headed feeling returning, "It's okay. I just felt a bit dizzy is all." I frowned thoughtfully at him before asking, lifting my hand away, "I am curious though. Do you know if Burnie couldn't hear people or feel what they feel when you grabbed his hands?" Adam blinked and cautiously said, holding the almost completely gold sunflower close to him before saying "Y-Yea. He told Mr Jason that...He seemed really curious about it too. Not in a bad way though! He was just curious like M-Momma says I always am, watching animals and plants and stuff..."

Before I could say anything more, Adam's stomach gave a huge growl. He flushed as I laughed, playfully poking his stomach, "Sounds like you really need to eat! Let's get you cleaned up real fast and then we'll go get dinner in the mess okay?" I set him down and went into the bathroom. I turned on the water for the shower, my hands slipping slightly on the knobs as I adjusted it so that it wasn't too hot, and quickly switched it over to a bath when it was warm enough.

"Why didn't that turn to gold?" I looked over my shoulder at Adam, who had come in while I was distracted by the bath, with a change of clothes. He had taken off his shirt and was staring at the knobs for the bath with a baffled expression.

"I can't change water or anything coated in water to gold." I shortly replied.

"If you look at the sunflowers, the ends of the stems are still normal." I added eying him. Now that he wasn't wearing that ridiculously large T-shirt, I could see he wasn't malnourished skinny, he was just in the awkward stage where a recent growth spurt just made him thinner than normal. "I can trust you to take a bath without me in the room right?" He nodded at me.

I nodded back and told him "Towels are in the cabinet in the corner. Just shout for me if you need anything got it?"

"Yes Joel, I got it."

I left him alone and gave him 10 minutes in the bathroom as I slipped my gloves back on. He was out in 5, dressed in a large long sleeved shirt that went down to his thighs and the middle of his palms and slightly too long jeans, his dark hair still dripping slightly as he rubbed it roughly with one of my towels. "That was fast." I said impressed. He gave me a sheepish smile "I didn't want to miss dinner." I laughed and said "Don't worry! They'll save some food for us!"

I held out the gloves that Matt had given me a month ago "Here. So you don't have to keep replacing your gloves." Adam reverantly took them from me, his face red as he mumbled "Thanks Joel..." and slipped them on. They were much looser on him than on me, but at least they were better than a flimsy pair of rubber gloves that could tear on practically anything.

"Now let's go." I told him, offering him a hand. He smiled widely at me before taking my hand and letting me lead him down to the dining room.

\---------------------------------

Dinner ( _Takeout Chinese food from that one Chinese place on the edge of town_ ) was an interesting affair, to say the least.

Normally the dinner shenanigans just consisted of Jason grabbing Gus' favorite dishes before teleporting over to Geoff so he could sneak some, and then Geoff flying out of Gus' reach when the technopath tried mauling him for stealing said food. There was also the occasional 'secret guest' under the table which was some animal or another that Dan had been 'talked' into sheltering and frequent jumpscares when Kathleen appeared out of nowhere to grab a plate of food and vanish, taking her food with her.

This dinner was much different because you had Matt actually using his powers at one end of the table to entertain Gavin by changing into people that Gavin asked him to or into people that Gavin described. Monty fell asleep at the other end at some point and unconsciously started to use his power, sinking into the table until Dan woke him up with a small shout of "Monty!". Gruchy dared Geoff to poke him with his fork which Geoff ( _being the man-child he is_ ) took him up on that, only to end up with a dropped jaw, a bent fork and a smug Gruchy as a weird blackish coating to his skin faded away. Gus and Burnie watched and questioned Ryan, fascinated as the sandy haired boy served himself food and drink with only his mind. Even Adam and I had fun chatting with Jason, talking to him about how weird it was to Adam, having someone's powers and knowing instinctively how to use them.

The main attraction of the meal, so to speak, was when Jack went to pour himself some more soda. That was when we discovered the extent of both his and Gavin's powers at the time.

Jack's main power is that he had an extreme amount of strength that apparently fluxuated with ( _and there was the kicker right there_ ) the length of his beard. So, even though he had been handling the silverware and the flatware as carefully as he could throughout the meal, the pitcher of soda cracked and practically exploded in his grip when he jumped from Kathleen appearing behind him as she grabbed some Chinese from a platter near him.

Note that I said _practically_ exploded.

Gavin's power is a form of time manipulation. Everyone had expected to get drenched and/or cut by glass fragments right away but it looked like the pitcher was exploding in slow motion. Gavin gave a small grunt, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he pointed at the mess in between Jack's hands. Quickly, Jason teleported out and then back with a bucket that he placed under and up around the exploding pitcher. Gavin let out a sigh, letting his hand drop as the sound of soda slooshing in the bucket as well as glass clunking into the container as well.

There was silence before Gruchy grinned and said "That was brilliant B." Gavin grinned at him and they slapped a high five as Adam started peppering Gavin with questions about his power.

"I'm really sorry for destroying that jug, Mr. Burns." Jack apologized as Dan removed the glass from his hands. Burnie waved carelessly saying "It's okay. It was a cheap ass one anyway." Kathleen reappeared next to Burnie and smacked him saying "Language!" She turned to Jack and apologized "I'm really sorry for that sweetie. I didn't think I would startle you that much."

Jack shook his head "It's okay Ms. Zuelch! Look..." He lifted up his hand to show that rather than deep gaping wounds in his palm that we were expected, his skin was completely flat though a bit redder than normal, "See? Not a problem at all!"

The rest of the meal was uneventful other than Gavin betting Ryan his eggroll that he couldn't juggle 10 different objects with his mind ( _Ryan won by juggling 15 different items and exchanged the eggroll for a shrimp wanton_ ) and Gus trying to stop Geoff from encouraging Gruchy and Jack to have an arm wrestling match ( _Jack pointed out that it wan't fair because he was bigger than the young Brit so even if Gruchy wouldn't get hurt, he would still lose_ ). 

After dinner was over, everyone went to bed with the promise that the kids could unpack their belongings the next morning. I was just drifting off to sleep, when there was a quiet knock at my door.

"J-Joel?" Someone called out, cautiously opening my door.

It was Adam.

"Yeah buddy?" I asked sitting up with a yawn. He was dressed in an adorable brown bear onesie with a hood ( _the hood had freaking bear ears on it, how cute is that?_ ) and he had a black teddy bear held tightly under his one arm, his blanket bundled up under the other.

He whispered, flinching as if he expected me to yell at him, "C-Can I sleep with you tonight?"

I smiled gently at him and shifted to the side, patting the bed next to me. "Sure thing. Warning though, I snore." Adam giggled climbing into bed with me. He wrapped himself and his bear up in his blanket before snuggling up against my side.

"G-G'night Joel..." Adam softly said sleepily.

I gently kissed the top of his hood amd whispered "Good night Adam...Sweet Dreams..."

I drifted off to the steady sound of Adam sleeping next to me... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New powers that were mentioned this chapter:  
> Ryan; Telepathy and Telekinesis  
> Adam; Energy Absorption (in non-mutants it's their life-force while mutants have their powers stolen for a time, and the longer he touches them, the longer he can use their powers)  
> Monty; Intangibility  
> Dan (Gruchy); Carbon Armor (think Greed from FMA)  
> Jack; Extreme strength that relies on the size of his beard (the longer his beard the stronger he is at the price of less control) and a Healing Factor that makes him pretty damn near invincible  
> Gavin; Time Manipulation (only can manipulate up to 30 minutes in the past or the future)


End file.
